There are few directors as secretive as Christopher Nolan, so when a little nugget of info drops seemingly by accident, it tends to get latched on to. And while Nolan hasn’t said what he plans to make post-Batman — he recently told “Nightline” he didn’t have anything immediate (see below) — it looks like his closest collaborators may have an inkling.

As part of the extensive press for “The Dark Knight Rises,” Empire caught up with Michael Caine — who has worked on every Nolan film except “Following,” “Memento,” and “Insomnia” — and the actor teased that the director has already asked him to be in his next one. “He’s got to go on, he’s got some other idea, and I’m in it! I’ve been in everything he’s done since he’s been in Hollywood. We’re each others’ good luck charms,” he said. So what could it be?

Again, out of step with most of Hollywood, Nolan doesn’t attach himself to much. At one point last year it was announced he was going to get rolling on his long developing Howard Hughes project with a projected release date of 2014, but Nolan said it was dead last month. He’s also expressed interest in doing a Bond film — something he’s said more than once over the years — but that seems a long way off from happening at the moment. And basically that’s about it. Anything else he’s attached to these days are producing projects like Zack Snyder‘s “Man Of Steel” or Wally Pfister‘s directorial debut. However, he did write the thriller “The Keys To The Street,” based on the book by Ruth Rendell — which Gemma Artetonsaid she was going to star in way back in 2010 — and while that project is hella old (penned after “Following” for Fox Searchlight) maybe he’s considering going back to it? It’s a longshot, but you never know.

Anyway, just something to think about for now as you patiently await “The Dark Knight Rises” on July 20th.